


The queue

by Zoya113



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/F, F/M, Just buddies being pals, absolutely not proof read for pacing I’m sorry, obligatory danny bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27451699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: Alice and Ethan are tasked with running a quick job for the smoke club
Relationships: Alice Woodward & Ethan Green, Alice Woodward/ Deb, Ethan Green/ Lex Foster
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	The queue

**Author's Note:**

> I did not double check this for pacing oops hsnfnsnf

“Uh, Deb wants a vanilla latte, Sof wants a papaya smoothie and Danny wants a chocolate milk tea with aloe Vera.”

“Well that sounds disgusting,” Ethan clicked his tongue. “Aloe Vera?”

“You?” Alice tried to keep him on track. 

“Dunno, haven’t thought about it yet,” he hadn’t checked the menu to the drink stand before they had arrived. He figured he would just decide there. “Lex’ll just gets like, a watermelon milk tea, yeah. I think she’ll like it,” he nodded. Something sweet for the day. It was the sort of day where it was nice outside but only for the first five minutes, so he figured he would tag along to help Alice carry the drinks back. Plus, he was one of the only ones with a license so far. “What’ll you get!” He asked since he hadn’t heard her own order. 

“Oh!” She glanced down at her phone but she had already clicked off the menu to look at the text from Deb where she had listed out everyone’s orders back at their usual weekend spot. She was holding her wallet in her other hand though and didn’t seem to think it worth it. “I’ll just look at the menu when-“ her breath hitched as they turned the corner to where the small drinks stand was. “Aw man,” she lost her perkiness quite quickly.

“That’s a long line,” Ethan groused. He didn’t mind hanging out though for the time being, it was better than waiting for Lex who was chronically late to social events or listening to Danny talk about a weird trip he had. Deb was cool, of course, but she did not outweigh the presence Sof and Danny. So really he was in no rush at all if it meant he could spend some time with Alice.

Alice though, broke out into a slight run to catch the end of the line before anyone else could join the line.

He jogged after her to keep up, and she was glancing down at her phone as he rejoined her. “Man, I didn’t think this place would be that busy,” he started. “Like, we drove past Starbucks and they were packed out.” 

“Maybe we should go to Beanies?” Alice suggested. “They’re never that busy, right?” 

“Yeah but they’re overpriced and the drinks taste like piss, Alice,” he joked. “Everyone in Hatchetfield just wants a nice fun little picnic drink, apparently,” he was trying to keep it light hearted because he could sense a big shift in Alice’s mood all of a sudden. 

“Yeah I mean,” she peered out to try and see what was going on at the front of the line. “I dunno, there’s about six people in front of us,” she reported. 

“Ahaha, I guess we’ll get comfy then,” he shrugged, fiddling with the zipper of his leather jacket. 

“But there are two groups in pairs as well,” she added. “So that’s about like, maybe even ten drinks before they get to us,” she put a hand to her mouth, chewing on her nails. 

“Oh no, Alice,” he chuckled, bumping his head to her shoulder. “Don’t start doing math.”

“I was just counting,” she blinked, giving an anxious laugh just because the situation called for it. “It just looks like a while.”

He lifted his head back up, getting a clearer view down the line because he was much taller than her. “It’s not that long, really,” he couldn’t imagine they’d spend all that much time here. “Aww, what, trying to get away from me?” He snorted, putting an arm around her neck and jostling her playfully.

She laughed, but she didn’t seem amused really, so he took his arm back, deciding to stay quiet just in case she wasn’t in the mood for games. If she wanted to talk she could always start a conversation of her own, of course. 

“No, no I’m not,” she did add though, fortunately, she held her jaw open for a moment longer like she had something to say but let out a concerned hum before closing it. 

He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, curling one finger around a loose thread coming from the pocket seams. He glanced over at her again, and she was once more checking the time on her phone. She bit down on her lip before risking a look at the line.

“We aren’t moving,” she stated, shifting her weight back and forth. 

“God yeah,” he rolled his eyes with a snort. “The person at the front of the line looks like they’re doing a group order or something,” he suggested. As they had been going back and forth between counters for a moment now.

“What? Do you think?” He didn’t know why but that set her off. “A big one?”  
She shuffled forward a little like she could trick herself into thinking the line was moving. 

“Uhh,” he didn’t know what the right answer was here, or why her eyes had just gone so wide. “Not a massive one!” He assured her. 

“Ahh- man!” She snapped, clutching her phone tight in her hands until her knuckles were white and crossing her arms over her stomach. “God, shoot! I knew it,” she winced, stepping out of the line to check out what was happening at the front again, not even trying to be subtle about how the time was getting to her. 

“Hey it’s okay! Be patient!” He told her. “We aren’t gonna miss anything back there, promise, Alice!” 

“No it’s just, oh!” She was almost whining, although it didn’t seem deliberate. She caught her breath before she could groan too much, keeping it in her chest. “Man!”

“Hey, woah!” His hand hovered over her back, but didn’t touch her unless that was too overcrowding. “Don’t panic, what’s the deal?” He asked with a frown, holding out a hand to usher her back into the line so they didn’t lose their place. “Everything is fine,” he told her, because as far as he was concerned they were right on track.

“Shoot I just-! The line is so long and we’re gonna be here for ages and we’ll be late to the hang out,” she mumbled the last part like she knew it was dumb. 

Ethan shook his head. “No, no it can’t be any longer than like, ten minutes!” He assured her. He knew she wanted to fit into the gang, and that was pretty hard if she was spending the whole time getting drinks. “Bet, we’ll be at the front in like ten minutes max.”

She shook her head, her hands going to her temple. “I know, but then we have to order and wait for our drinks to be made and then we have to drive back, and that might be twenty minutes or even half an hour!” She exclaimed.

He shook his head again, a little more frantically but only to calm her. “No, no,” he kept his voice low. “That’s gonna be fine, we won’t miss anything!” He held himself back from making another jab at Danny’s weird trip story, because making fun of Danny was not the solution here. “We’ll be quick!” 

“But Danny and Sof told us to order ahead and now I’m gonna get back there late and ugh!” She shook her own head now. “I’m sorry, I’m just- man. I hate this.”

He shoved his hands right back into his pocket just so he didn’t take to hugging her as a solution, he could guess from her nervous pacing she probably wasn’t up for that. “They won’t say anything though, they won’t even remember they said that, they’ll probably be high!” He promised. 

She shrugged, pursing her lips shut so she didn’t over share. “I know but they’ll know they’re right, and Danny will be correct.”

“Yeah, trust me. You do not want Danny holding anything over your head,” he couldn’t help but laugh, and fortunately, she let out a breath of air too, not quite - but sort of similar to a laugh. “We’ll get you back there on time,” he promised once more, and she nodded, staring at the ground and keeping her lips pursed shut tightly. 

He squinted hard at the menu so he could add his order to the list before they got to the front of the line so she didn’t have anything else to worry about. “Oh hey, you know I don’t think I’ll get anything,” he announced to her. “I dunno if there’s anything really here that’s my style.” That was a lie - he would simply steal from Lex’s cup- but he hoped it would make her worry less if there was one less drink they had to wait for. 

She nodded, taking in a quick breath, now nodding a little too hard. “Yeah, I think I might pass too,” she laughed weakly, her hands searching for pockets to slip into, not that she had any. “Okay, neat, that’s good.” 

He could actually see her reappraising the situation, and at least she stopped slumping.

“I just,” she began, and he looked over quickly to encourage her to continue talking. “Yeah, I hate it when you rock up late and then everyone stares at you when you walk in the door? And everything stops, not because of you, technically, just because they stop to see who’s there or to wave and then you have to look at them and ugh, what is that?” It turned from less of an excuse to more of a ramble as she went on. 

“Yeah!” He knew what she was talking about though it had never bothered him. “It’s like, mind your own business,” he forced a laugh too, trying to keep her spirits intact. He spared a look down the slowly shuffling line, and Alice didn’t even seem to notice as they moved down a spot. “Look, when we get there I’ll create a diversion if you want,” he offered like it was a sneaky trick. 

Her laugh was breathy and sort of deep, like it was at least a natural laugh coming from her gut. “No, please don’t, seriously.” She patted a hand to his chest to show she was firm about it. 

“Aw what? Why not?” He asked rhetorically but playfully. “Man. I had all these good ideas too, but if you insist,” he dipped his head. 

“That’ll make them look more!” She explained to him like he was dumb, which was good because at least she wasn’t in too poor of a mood to play along with him. 

“Not at you though!” He gasped like he had been dramatically wounded. 

“Yeah but I’m with you! We’re buddies they can’t look at you and not acknowledge I am also there.”

“Aww,” he paused in his efforts to soothe her to let out a coo. “Package deal?” 

She didn’t laugh, but she did breath out through her nose so she had to have been at least slightly amused. “You know what I mean.” 

“Aww, cute,” he could get away with a slight brush of the shoulders at least without sending her off into a deeper panic. “Well, if you think Sof will go and make a big deal out of it let’s just order her drink wrong. That’ll show her right,” he snickered at the idea, because he would accurately predict how Sof would react, but he knew she wouldn’t make any big deal about bossing Alice around anymore, even if she always did have good intentions. 

“Oh, no, no,” another sort of but not quite laugh. “Her drink is like six dollars,“ she lowered her voice down, “I don’t wanna waste it, she skipped lunch to save the money to pitch in for drinks today,” she seemed too tense to be sad, and had returned to her anxious pacing back and forth, shuffling slowly with the line.

“Hey well I’ll cover it if you want me to do it!” He offered, hoping that would clear up that issue and that bit of stress. “I don’t mind, I’ve got some money saved!” 

“That doesn’t mean you have to go throwing it around, silly,” she nudged him again and spared a glance up in his direction before staring back at the floor. “Thank you, but maybe we should just let Sof have her drink so we don’t have to come wait in this line again,” she gestured to it with a slight scoff. “And it’s so hot out here.”

Ethan was glad she was at least getting to making jokes, even if they came in the form of slight mocking, although that was the main form of comedy in the smoke club. “Well shit, I’m stumped on that end then haha,” he nudged her again to test where she was at, relieved she at least gave him a smile. 

“I dunno, you don’t have to go any do anything Ethan, it’s okay, but thanks,” she played with the bracelets on her hand, measuring her breaths. “If they stare at me I’ll get over it. It’ll only be for like two seconds if anything, I know it’s dumb but,” she didn’t really notice as they stepped another couple of paces forward, she seemed pretty lost in her mental space, working things out and appraising the situation again as she presumably played it out in her mind. “That sorta stuff just...”

“Stresses you out?” He answered since he knew she wouldn’t take it there. She never wanted to feel like she was bothering him but it was just a hard block to get around. “Well, who likes Danny anyways. We keep him around because he pitches in most for the drinks,” he laughed properly this time, but maybe too loudly because Alice didn’t join in. 

Man, he felt like he was so close to cooling her off but she was still quiet. She checked her phone one more time and couldn’t hold back her groan. “Shoot,” she murmured. 

“Hey, it’s okay Alice look! We’re one more person from the front,” he nudged her and titled his head forward.

She glanced up from her phone, a quiet look of surprise on her pale face. She didn’t say anything but he caught a slight easing in her expression, like her jaw wasn’t as tense for the first time since they had gotten here. “Look, we might still make it,” she managed to say before they got up to order for themselves before pacing a few steps to the side to loiter at the waiting bench. 

“Look!” Ethan tapped Alice’s phone screen when they were called over to collect their final drinks. “We can get there, still!” If he sped - just a little bit- she didn’t need to know, she wouldn’t be able to tell. 

He collected one tray, trying to balance it properly but in his hesitance Alice swooped up the other two, nodding him back along in the direction of the car. “Come on, let’s hurry.” 

She strapped herself in to the front seat of his old car, balancing the tray of cups on her lap as she glanced a little impatiently at the ignition, her shoes tapping out a little rhythm on the car mat. “Good thing we didn’t have to walk.”

“Let’s go!” He announced triumphantly, glad he had faced the battle of the line and would get his friend’s mood back to normal. “Yeah, good thing I actually have fuel for once,” he added with a chuckle.

She gave a slightly forced laugh, but it was however at a much more regular volume. 

She was leaning forward in her chair the whole time, so it was audible when she slumped back into her seat at they hit the first red light. 

“Hey, Ali cat,” he pointed to his car clock. “Look, we’re just around the corner from the park. It’s not even a minute away. We’re just waiting for the light,” he spoke it out to her calmly, hoping her breathing would match to his tone of voice if he stayed level. 

Her nod was but a twitch. “Will you help me carry the drinks? I’ll need an extra hand.” He could hear her bracing herself in her voice. 

“Lex won’t even be there yet,” he tried in a last attempt to comfort her before they got there. And he assumed she wouldn’t mind if Deb waved her over. “Ah.” It was just Danny and Sof that were the problem (as per usual). “If Danny causes you trouble I am gonna dump his drink.” Who wanted chocolate and aloe Vera anyways? It was pretty much already a felony. 

“No, no! You don’t have to do that,” she gaped. “Oh my god, it’s okay aha, I know it’s no big deal.”

But it was a big deal to her, which was what was important. “Are you sure? People would laugh.”

“No, it’s okay Ethan, really, you don’t need- oh my god, is this light going to go green or what?” She snapped. “We have been sitting here for like,” she glanced at the clock, where time had not actually passed, and smacked herself back into her chair, holding the drinks tightly. “Jeez!” 

He was actually a little pissed at the red light now too. 

“I can drop Danny’s drink,” he repeated himself. “If you need it. Just give me the signal,” he was only saying it jokingly now that she wasn’t really entertained by the actual possibility. 

“I just really want this light to turn,” she said, rocking just slightly in her chair. 

“Ugh, finally,” he tapped a hand to the steering wheel as the light switched green, pulling out of the lane to turn the corner. 

She was running her hands over what was who’s drink. The purple straw was Sof’s, the pink cup was Lex’s, and the coffee cup was Deb’s. Danny’s was the one with the brown lid. 

Alice unbuckled her seatbelt before he had stopped the car, throwing her door open, scooping up one tray while Ethan grabbed the two from her lap this time. 

She was matching steadily onwards towards where they usually hung out in the park, moving quite quickly through the tall grass. 

“Careful, don’t wanna spill anything,” he reminded her, because that would probably set her off more than actually having to go wait in line again, and she was very close to calming down once this was out of the way. 

He let out his own sigh of relief to see the group was turned the other way, and only Deb was facing their direction. She shot Alice a big smile when she saw her and Ethan eased up when he heard a small giggle from Alice. 

Danny and Sof only noticed they were close now when Deb raised a hand to wave a couple seconds later. 

In his peripheral vision he saw Alice slow down, Sof glanced more at the drink tray than Alice before swivelling her head back around to Deb who had been talking moments earlier. But Danny stayed staring. 

“Oh my god,” he muttered, literally feeling anxious vibes rolling off Alice into the air around her, her jaw clenching again and her breathing hitching. 

He was going to throttle the man if he kept staring. 

“Uh, dick, are you listening to me or not?” Deb waved a hand to catch Danny’s attention. 

“Miss Woodward and Mister Green,” he addressed them in an overly formal tone, tapping his wrist. “You’re exactly two minutes late!” He announced. 

“Fuck you,” Ethan started, which was not an uncommon way to start a sentence in the smoke club. 

“Perhaps you should’ve been on time, sir Ethan. I told you to order ahead, Miss Alice,” he just bit back cockily, holding out a hand for his drink. 

As playful as he thought he was being Ethan was quite frankly a man of his word, and reached a hand up to slap Danny’s cup off his tray only to find it pass through mid air, Alice having done exactly that two seconds before his swing.

Danny’s jaw dropped as his drink hit the ground, and frankly Ethan was just as surprised. 

“Maybe, if you wanted it on time you should’ve gone and waited yourself,” Alice managed to stammer out, probably the most shocked of any of them. 

The whole group was in silence for what could’ve only been a second, but it felt like hours. Ethan was thinking desperately of some clever quip to get the attention back on him and sway the smoke club’s flexible group opinion in Alice’s favour, but it was Sof who broke out first, cackling loud enough it would’ve filled up the whole park. 

“Girl! Hey! Are you trying to still my job? Get down here let me say hi!” She slapped a hand to the grass and Ethan watched in cold relief as she stumbled a few steps forward to fall down on the grass between Deb and Sof. 

Deb caught her as she almost collapsed into her lap and Sof put an arm around her shoulders to bring her over for a slightly too enthusiastic hug. “This dickhead has not stopped complaining! Serves him right!” 

And then Alice managed a laugh too, not loudly at first, more just a quiet, still in shock chuckle to match Deb’s, but every time she looked over at Sof who was still howling, she just began to laugh harder. 

Proper, gut laughing, a hand was clutched to her stomach and her eyes were actually watering, it was only perpetuated by the fact Danny still had no good come back or complaint, and as the three girls were caught up in some sort of pack howl, tumbling into each other or gripping their arms for some sort of stability, Ethan laughed with them, happy to see Alice do such a quick 180, and even better, at Danny’s expense. She probably just earned herself street credit or something.

“Chocolate and aloe Vera!” Deb cackled, slapping her knee. “That’s what it deserved!”

“Hey!” Danny finally managed, pointing at where his drink had leaked out into the grass. “That was like, four dollars!” 

The three girls paused for a moment before bursting into a second bought, Alice tucking her watery eyes into Deb’s collar in an attempt to maybe this time more civil as the first attempt towards apologising to Danny for her split second decision. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She managed at least, mostly through whatever breaths she could catch in between her laughter. 

Danny groaned, pulling his cap down so he could ruffle his own hair. 

Ethan put the remaining drinks down on the grass, patting Danny sympathetically on the back. “Sorry, bud. I’ll call Lex and ask her to pick up another one on the way,” he apologised on his hysterical friend’s behalf. 

“But-“

“Let her have her fun,” he held out an arm to bar him from getting Alice’s attention. 

“I paid for that,” he gave a petulant frown, at least willing to wait if it meant he got another one. “It was-“

“Shitty financial decision,” Ethan chuckled. “Don’t day it again. Those three do not need any more reason to laugh,” he joked. 

After texting Lex he finally began to ease off as the three girls wound down, Sof still laughing what was probably longer tha necessary, bursting into a new fit of laughter any time she saw the puddle of chocolate milk on the grass. 

“Man. What did I even do?” Danny whined. 

Ethan was glad Alice was doing better, seemingly not only forgetting the incident at the drink stand, but making up for it twice over already. That was more like it.  
“Well, didn’t anyone ever teach ya it was rude to stare?”


End file.
